“I know. I just feel…”
She stopped him.
“Don’t,” she said. “I have enough on my shoulders. Put your feelings on the back burner. If we’re going to surviveThe Grave Robber, we can’t go with our feelings into this fight. The bottom line, again, is if your wife or kids get hurt, I can’t carry that, Ivan. Raphael and Saint’s daughter are with the kids inthePuget Sound, and their marriage was kept lowkey. He can’t manipulate that to use it to get to me.”
He knew she was right.
“How about we stop wasting time discussing this, and you give me an update on the situation there?” she asked.
He sighed.
But in the end, Ivan did the job.
“Your team is being monitored, and the family is safe. Duke was transported to work this morning, and his kids are also with yours. Access to the island is cut off to anyone at this point, and all of the dogs are there to help patrol.”
She listened.
“Corbin and Alex are on standby, ready to move when you findThe Grave Robber. They will be mobilized the second you ask for them. Right now, they’re handling cleanup for a team that isn’t on lockdown.”
She was aware.
Alex checked in with her daily, since he was worried about her.
Well, the feeling was mutual.
That was for damn sure.
She was worried about his personal life just as much as his work one.
“Hey, can we cancel all of this, and maybe go on vacation?” he joked, wishing that was a possibility.
Yeah, she wanted a nice long one where no one made her carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Instead, she stayed focused.
“I wish. What’s next?”
Ivan kept updating her.
“Wyler was transported to his chemo, and he and Ethan made it back safely. Wyler has met up with the kids in the Sound. Chris and Callen are locked down, and the only time Chris lefthome was when he went to go visit the ME who got hurt on your last case.”
Yeah, that sounded about right.
“How is Doctor Redmond?” she asked, curiously. “Is he getting better?”
Ivan shared.
“He’s doing well. He’s healing up, and he’s ready to become Chris’ backup ME. For that husband, this is theONLYbright side of this situation. He’s got a Doctor Leonard two-point-oh. He’s going to be insufferable in the morgue now.”
Uriel laughed.
“You know a person is loco when they nearly die on a case, and they keep coming back for more. He took that job offer way too fast to be entirely sane. Well, it’s that, or Chris is using witchcraft.”
She snorted.
“I mean, his mother is a witch, so…”
Ivan just shook his head.
